Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge
The Antarctic shelf seas are a climatically and ecologically important region, and are at present receiving increasing amounts of freshwater from the melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and its fringing ice shelves1, 2, primarily around the Antarctic Peninsula and the Amundsen Sea. In response, the s...
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:369525 2023-08-27T04:03:53+02:00 Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge Rye, Craig D. Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Holland, Paul R. Meredith, Michael P. Nurser, A.J. George Hughes, Chris W. Coward, Andrew C. Webb, David J. 2014-10 text https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/1/Rye%2520article%2520file.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/2/Rye%2520supplementary%2520material.pdf en English eng https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/1/Rye%2520article%2520file.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/2/Rye%2520supplementary%2520material.pdf Rye, Craig D., Naveira Garabato, Alberto C., Holland, Paul R., Meredith, Michael P., Nurser, A.J. George, Hughes, Chris W., Coward, Andrew C. and Webb, David J. (2014) Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge. Nature Geoscience, 7 (10), 732-735. (doi:10.1038/ngeo2230 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2230>). Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2230 2023-08-03T22:20:49Z The Antarctic shelf seas are a climatically and ecologically important region, and are at present receiving increasing amounts of freshwater from the melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and its fringing ice shelves1, 2, primarily around the Antarctic Peninsula and the Amundsen Sea. In response, the surface ocean salinity in this region has declined in past decades3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Here, we assess the effects of the freshwater input on regional sea level using satellite measurements of sea surface height (for months with no sea-ice cover) and a global ocean circulation model. We find that from 1992 to 2011, sea-level rise along the Antarctic coast is at least 2 ± 0.8 mm yr -1 greater than the regional mean for the Southern Ocean south of 50° S. On the basis of the model simulations, we conclude that this sea-level rise is almost entirely related to steric adjustment, rather than changes in local ocean mass, with a halosteric rise in the upper ocean and thermosteric contributions at depth. We estimate that an excess freshwater input of 430 ± 230 Gt yr -1 is required to explain the observed sea-level rise. We conclude that accelerating discharge from the Antarctic Ice Sheet has had a pronounced and widespread impact on the adjacent subpolar seas over the past two decades. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet Sea ice Southern Ocean University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Amundsen Sea Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Southern Ocean The Antarctic Nature Geoscience 7 10 732 735 |
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University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
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ftsouthampton |
language |
English |
description |
The Antarctic shelf seas are a climatically and ecologically important region, and are at present receiving increasing amounts of freshwater from the melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and its fringing ice shelves1, 2, primarily around the Antarctic Peninsula and the Amundsen Sea. In response, the surface ocean salinity in this region has declined in past decades3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Here, we assess the effects of the freshwater input on regional sea level using satellite measurements of sea surface height (for months with no sea-ice cover) and a global ocean circulation model. We find that from 1992 to 2011, sea-level rise along the Antarctic coast is at least 2 ± 0.8 mm yr -1 greater than the regional mean for the Southern Ocean south of 50° S. On the basis of the model simulations, we conclude that this sea-level rise is almost entirely related to steric adjustment, rather than changes in local ocean mass, with a halosteric rise in the upper ocean and thermosteric contributions at depth. We estimate that an excess freshwater input of 430 ± 230 Gt yr -1 is required to explain the observed sea-level rise. We conclude that accelerating discharge from the Antarctic Ice Sheet has had a pronounced and widespread impact on the adjacent subpolar seas over the past two decades. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rye, Craig D. Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Holland, Paul R. Meredith, Michael P. Nurser, A.J. George Hughes, Chris W. Coward, Andrew C. Webb, David J. |
spellingShingle |
Rye, Craig D. Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Holland, Paul R. Meredith, Michael P. Nurser, A.J. George Hughes, Chris W. Coward, Andrew C. Webb, David J. Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge |
author_facet |
Rye, Craig D. Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Holland, Paul R. Meredith, Michael P. Nurser, A.J. George Hughes, Chris W. Coward, Andrew C. Webb, David J. |
author_sort |
Rye, Craig D. |
title |
Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge |
title_short |
Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge |
title_full |
Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge |
title_fullStr |
Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge |
title_sort |
rapid sea-level rise along the antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/1/Rye%2520article%2520file.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/2/Rye%2520supplementary%2520material.pdf |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/1/Rye%2520article%2520file.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369525/2/Rye%2520supplementary%2520material.pdf Rye, Craig D., Naveira Garabato, Alberto C., Holland, Paul R., Meredith, Michael P., Nurser, A.J. George, Hughes, Chris W., Coward, Andrew C. and Webb, David J. (2014) Rapid sea-level rise along the Antarctic margins in response to increased glacial discharge. Nature Geoscience, 7 (10), 732-735. (doi:10.1038/ngeo2230 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2230>). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2230 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
732 |
op_container_end_page |
735 |
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1775347280602202112 |